Good food terrible service

We live around the corner and went the first time about a month ago. The restaurant was still in previews but the food was great. Sadly, the service was not. It took 4 tries and 45 minutes to get the correct check which we finally got from a waiter not our own who also comped one of our entrees for our trouble. The next time we went, the place was packed but we were given a table with only a 5 minute wait and the service had vastly improved. The last time we went, Martha Stewart was sitting at the table next to the door, black cars and limos were clogging the streets and the formerly friendly host and hostess had been injected with a massive dose of attitude and we left instead of trying to fight the throngs. We'll keep trying but hope the place calms down.

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412 out of 902 people found this review helpful.

I call a Wave!

What a wonderful contraption of what ye olde New York West Village Restaurants should be and it is!!!!!!Unpretentious in the most pretentious way - just delightful! Service was attentive and not of the old school professional kind. Food was excellent! Wine list impressive if abit shocking!
Salt encrusted Whole Fish was delicious and moist! Hints of Rosemary lingered in the air for a while! Will go back for the Dover Sole and a crack at that georgeous Pork Chop!!!!!
I also liked the absinthe martini - must be an ode to the re-surgence of the speakeasy taking place in New York City and the renaissance of the glamour of drinking rather than the passe celebrity bottle service frat nightmare that needs to go bye bye!
So say hello to the Waverly Inn!!!!!

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301 out of 584 people found this review helpful.

Go there now.

Yes! Bliss was experienced the other night at Waverly Inn. They told us a two hour wait, but we hung at the bar and persevered. Spying the back rooms that glowed like amber jewels we hoped for a table in the rear. We were rewarded with just that and quite quickly...Wine list, menu items...simple but what flavor! So nice to be in a great restaurant without the haughty attitude and shoddy service. I cannot wait to return!

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306 out of 620 people found this review helpful.

Nothing to write home about

Please, please tell me what the hype is all about? My favorite neighborhood byob that has one cook and 10 tables serves better food. The decor is heavy, pretentious, and the food is mediocre, on a good day. My friend insisted that we go and try it. The hostess had to "check" with the manager if they had a table for us, it was 6pm and they were completely empty, and still not full when we left, by the way. The salad appetizer was ok, my pasta which was a special was not good, too spicy, very little sauce and sticky overall; my friend's hamburger was $20, was dry and the fries were too salty and dry as well. We decided to skip dessert and head to a local cafe for a probably much better option. To be fair, the cocktails were made very well, although too pricey, and they charge $14 for a glass of Riesling, (2007, the bottle probably costs as much). I am not going to visit this place again.

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272 out of 534 people found this review helpful.

Over-priced and pretentious

It was Sunday brunch. I ordered a fruit parfait. Along came a bowl - its bottom meagrely sprinkled in muesli, a very small blob of yogurt and ONE strawberry sliced into four pieces. All for the princley sum of 13 dollars. I sent it back so they could fatten it up a bit. Back came two blobs of yogurt, and one more strawberry - sliced into five pieces. I mentioned to the smug waiter that this wasn't what I expected and he brought me a bowl of fruit - and when the bill arrived, I'd been charged 11 dollars for that. To be fair, the food was decent, there just wasn't enough of it.
And at 8 dollars for a glass of orange juice there is better value in the city - pretty much anywhere! Oh, and the service has been described by other reviewers as reprehensible. I agree. Don't waste your time when you've got Manhattan choice at your feet.

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151 out of 310 people found this review helpful.

Haters gonna hate

While we did have an identical experience to "Athia" (with the cabs, rain, etc. - funny), we've now done a 2-person romantic dinner and a 6-person boozy dinner at W.I., and have nothing but positive things to say about the place. You know what you're getting into when you go, which is why we are surprised by all of the hating that's happening in some of these reviews. W.I. is going for an old school supper club feel, with a slightly pretentious vibe that will draw the celeb set and the cool kids (and in W.I.'s case their parents) that they like to be surrounded by. If you're not into that, well, you've been warned (for like 5 years at this point).
We went for the food, and were very happy. The pot pie is ridiculous and I had lamb once and veal once, and both were amazing as well. The Bananas Foster is also bananas. And unless you act like a rubber-necked gawker the service is fine too. It's expensive, and we highly recommend having your before-dinner cocktails (as well as your nightcap) elsewhere since they kill you on the cocktail and champaign prices. That said, just know that resisting a little cocktailing is hard to do since the place is pretty much built for imbibing on classic libations, bubbles and hedonistic wines, so you may found yourself sucked into the experience, as we were (both times).
Manage your expectations as noted and go check it out. It's a fun and distinctly Manhattan dining experience, and above all else the food is worth the price of admission.

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137 out of 273 people found this review helpful.

Not worth the hype

Don't waste your time. In a city that has a million restaurants, don't give into to hype about the Waverly Inn. The menu is uneventful and tired. The service is nonexistent and pretensious. They rush you. We were not finished with our starters when the main course arrived. They actually took away the plate while one person in our party still had her fork in her mouth. The octopus starter was fishy and tasteless. The beet salad was boring. The seabass main course was unbalanced with no flavor. The space is beautiful and give is energetic, but all in all, VERY disappointing and extremely expensive. Again, don't waste your time.

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161 out of 294 people found this review helpful.

Horrible management, mediocre everything.

Like most trends, the Waverly once had a lot of flash, with barely any substance to back it up. Now trend and the flash have set sail and this place looks as tired as the ghouls that run it. The food is no different or better than 1,345,234 places in the Manhattan area. It's not necessarily bad, it's just not any different than what every other restaurant in the neighborhood offers. If you're just paying to go and hope to see a celebrity, you'd probably be better off on one of the NYC Celebrity Bus tours, at least the scenery wouldn't be as depressing. Also, on a note for the management, my group had called about a possible private event and couldn't believe the complete lack of professional, or even human, resposes given by their day manager who handles these events (Randy Neff). Save your money, go elsewhere, it's time to put this aging scene in a home.

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131 out of 218 people found this review helpful.